Beaches

This week found us at the beach twice. Despite meteorologist's predictions we had nice weather quite a few days this week. Going to the beach is a fairly regular thing for us but it has become more difficult since a landslide took out the main road in December. Now, to get to Golden Gardens, we have to drive nearly all the way into Ballard then double back. All in all, it's only a couple of minutes out of the way and our entire trek to the beach takes 5 - 10 minutes tops. I love the beach here in a different way than the beaches from back home. Back home, I get my fill of the sun and sand pretty quickly. It just gets too hot to quickly for it to be fun for too long. Here, I can find a spot and sit for quite a while. The weather is spectacular. Yesterday, I had to go in long pants because it was a bit chilly. Still, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it alot.
I love to go at low tide. There's much more to explore during that time. I need to find time this week to go because we are going to experience the lowest tides of the year. It's also fun to see the ships passing thru from the ports of Seattle to the ocean. Yesterday we saw a departing cruise ship and it made us long for another trip to Alaska. When we left Seattle on our cruise it was fun to stand on the deck and identify all of our personal landmarks. I don't know why I love the water so much. Perhaps it's because I was raised near the water. But I also love mountains and I was raised nowhere near them. That's one of the reasons I love Seattle. You've got water and mountains in abundance. It's wonderful.
Hopefully, if the weather will cooperate, we are going to get an annual pass for the Argosy Cruises tomorrow and take our first cruise. It's supposed to rain and be cloudy but the weather people around here are wrong almost every day. They are the only people I know who can be dead wrong on a daily basis and still keep their jobs. Sign me up.

Church Pirates

I can't seem to comment on this without cursing so I'll refrain. What do you think?

Summer Movies So Far...

Here's what I've seen and what I think. WARNING: Spoiler Alert!

Iron Man - Great flick! Thank goodness Marvel has formed a production company so that they can retain control over their properties. Hopefully this will mean no more movies like Spidey 3 or the first Hulk. As far as Iron Man goes, almost everything was right about it. Great casting, good story, stellar effects and humor. If anything was weak I would have to say it was the last part of the movie involving Jeff Bridges character. This may also point to a future weakness for the franchise which is Iron Man doesn't have a very interesting roster of villians to choose from. I've heard that the Mandarin may be a future baddie. Of course, the whole Tony becomes an alcoholic storyline has yet to play out so perhaps Stark is Iron Man's worst enemy. We'll see.

Prince Caspian - I liked it but perhaps not as much as my wife. It was dark, which was didn't bother me. It had lots of battles which was good. Even where they deviated from the original story didn't bother me. I think the one thing that the movie suffered from was lack of character development. But overall, I liked it and would watch it again.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - I was very disappointed in this movie. First of all, I don't think it should have been made. Second of all, Lucas said they wouldn't make another one until they found a compelling story to tell. Well, they should have waited longer. This story is a dud. What's wrong with the movie? I'll tell you.
- They started off badly by not setting up the movie the way the others are set up. In every Indy movie so far we've had the movie start with Indy at the end of another adventure. It helps to set the stage for what's to come and it gives the movie a jolt of action up front. This one doesn't have that. From the very start, it began to not feel like an Indy movie.
- With the absence of such lovable characters as Brody (Denholm Elliot), Dr. Jones Sr. (Sean Connery) and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) we are introduced to too many new characters who never go anywhere. Marion returns but isn't given much to do. And speaking of Marion, one minute she and Indy are fighting over their break-up and the next they're all kissy-kissy. There was no development of that relationship at all.
- Some of the action sequences (and their were not enough because the movie dragged) stretched my suspension of disbelief beyond it's limits. The last time this happened was during Temple of Doom when they fell down the mountain in the raft. This movie makes that look tame. And some of the situations Indy had to survive were just ridiculous.
- Last but not least, the plot was so lame. When I finally got the gist of where they were going (and hoped I wasn't right) all I could think of were bad one-liners from E. T. or Close Encounters. Indy helps the aliens phone home? Could be.
So, I guess you can say I didn't really care for the movie. It was okay. I enjoyed some parts of it. But overall it just left me flat and wishing they'd just let Last Crusade be the final hoorah. Lucas ruined Star Wars and now he's pulled Spielberg in to ruin Indy. These men must be stopped!

So, there you have it. I'm still looking forward to Wall-E, Hancock, and last but not least, Hellboy II: The Golden Army. They had a longer trailer for this during Indy 4 and it looks amazing!

Games People Play

This was a game oriented weekend for us. Last night we played Cranium with some friends which was a lot of fun. Tonight with other friends we were introduced to the card game Fluxx. Boy, talk about confusing. I didn't care for it. After that we played Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase. We had a lot of fun as usual.
Sarah and I are going to clean out our game closet. We have some games we never play like Scene It. It's a lame DVD movie trivia game. We need to get some dominoes so we can play Chickenfoot, a game my parents taught us while we were home in April. I'd also like to find the instructions to a game I learned at seminary called Hand and Foot. It's played with multiple decks of cards. We also enjoy Scrabble and Monopoly. Sarah loves Boggle because she beats the pants off of me. She also beats me regularly at Skip Bo. I'm not surprised. I've always sucked at games. I was always pretty good at Trivial Pursuit but I doubt I could hold my own anymore. I just don't keep up with pop culture like I used to.
So, there you have it. More than you ever wanted to know about the games we like. Boy, I've got to find something interesting to write about soon or you people are going to abandon ship.

The Queen is Dead. Long live the King!

Our new bed arrived a little bit ago. It's huge and nice and we're looking forward to many comfy nights sleep on it.
Just thought you'd like to know.

Art News

If all goes according to plan, I now have every month this year but December booked for an art show. I even have a show booked for April/May of next year. Wow! And we're not even to the halfway mark on this year yet. I don't know what all this means but it's encouraging. I have a really big show next month where I hope to sell lots of stuff. The only thing I need now is a creative kick in the pants. Productivity has been low of late.
Visit me, muse.

Booklist

Boneyard Vol. 5 & 6 by Richard Moore

Boneyard is a graphic novel dealing with the ongoing story of Tom Paris and the inheritance of a cemetary inhabited by a band of strange creatures including Sid, a talking skeleton; Ralph, a werewolf; Nessie, a female version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon; and Abby, a vampire that Tom is attracted to.

I continue to enjoy this series. The art is good and the stories are funny. It was just by chance that I found Vol. 6 at the library yesterday and since Vol. 5 was there I thought I'd re-read it as a refresher. One day I hope to own all of these. Actually, I hope to be able to pick up the full color versions that are being published now. Anyway, so I read thru them last night during my bedtime reading. I thought I'd get that light reading out of the way before I tackle Come Be My Light, a collection of writings by Mother Teresa.

Yeah, weird transition I know. That's how I roll.

Booklist

Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis

"Occult investigator Quincey Morris and his "consultant", white witch Libby Chastain, are hired to free a family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem witch trials. Fraught with danger, the trail finds them stalking the mysterious occult underworlds of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, searching out the root of the curse. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself - the very heart of darkness."

Author Jim Butcher said, "Black Magic Woman is the best manuscript I've ever been asked to read." I guess he should read more manuscripts. I found this book to be pretty dull and written with no flair at all. Just words on a page...nothing more. I picked it up because I heard someone say that they really cared about the characters and that they were interesting. Well, I found that not to be the case. The characters were cliche' and uninteresting. All in all, this book was just flat. It just kinda laid there.

I haven't seen anything exciting or different in this genre for a while. I guess I'm just getting bored with it. But I can't seem to find anything else interesting to read. If anyone has any suggestions, I'll be glad to hear them.

The Company

For the last couple of weeks I have been enjoying an online reunion with some of my friends from seminary days. We were all part of the seminary's touring drama team called The Company. Someone started a Company page on Facebook and it all grew from there. We all started congregating, sharing stories and pictures and just catching up. It's been great.
Since then, my good buddy Jon has created a private Company site for us. So, in addition to the Facebook page we now have a site of our own for sharing stories, pics, videos and what have you. I would have to say that the seeds of this were sown a year ago (actually 2 years - thanks for correcting me Jon) when our friend Bill Reese passed away. Since then, we've been more in touch and more dedicated to tracking down those who have "disappeared." We hope to pull off a reunion in 2010. The picture above is from the last reunion in 1995.
If you're on Facebook, you might want to look us up, see the pictures and read the wacky stories and comments about our adventures on the road. It was a fun, frustrating, freaky, fabulous time in all of our lives and I don't think any of us would trade it for anything.

New Bed

Sarah and I bought a new bed today but it won't be delivered until Memorial Day. We used our economy boosting tax rebate. It's a king so there'll be room for everybody...including the cat who thinks he owns the whole house. It's funny. Neither Sarah nor I have ever bought a bed before. Our previous beds have been hand-me-downs or the like. Heck, my last bed before moving here was the one the Red Cross gave me after my apartment burned down. I thought that was right nice of them. One doesn't look a gift horse in the mouth when one's apartment is made of ash.
So, a week from tomorrow we will have a king-sized bed. Thanks W.

Dimple Polk: 1933 - 2008

DIMPLE JANE (GANDY) POLK "MAMA NANNY"
Dimple was born in Pensacola on August 16, 1933. She passed away after a lengthy illness on May 15, 2008 at Covenant Hospice at West Florida Hospital.Dimple was a native Floridian, raised in Brownsville, and graduated from Pensacola High School. She was a member of Olive Baptist Church. For eighteen years she enjoyed volunteering her services during tax season.
Preceding her in death were her parents, the late Sheriff Hampton E. Gandy, Sr. and Nellie Jane (Benson) Gandy; one infant son; brothers, Hampton E. Gandy, Jr. (Louise), Whipple J. Gandy (Selma), Cecil W. Gandy (Pat), and Luther A. Gandy (Maudelle); sisters, Arsula Doyle (Teddy), Viola Long, Nellie Thorkildsen (Bud), Doris Bates (Ezra), Gay Sakalarios (Mike) and Charlotte Hughes (Bud). Mrs. Polk is survived by her loving husband of 57 years, G. C. Polk; two daughters, Brenda Waters (Allen) of Pace, Florida and Karen Schebler (Dan) of Chantilly, Virginia; five grandchildren, Teresa Wood (Rusty), Bryan Waters (Tracy), Jayna Nelson (Kyle), and Mark and Adam Schebler; eight great-grandchildren, Josh and Heather Wood, Isaiah, Malachi, Caleb, and Lucas Waters, and Cooper and Vayda Nelson; one sister, Thelma Richards (Francis); one brother, Arthur O. Gandy (Dolores); and, one brother-in-law, Alfred Long. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, in-laws and dear friends.
The family will receive friends and relatives from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, Sunday, May 18, 2008 at Faith Chapel North-Cantonment. Funeral services will be held on Monday, May 19, 2008 at 11:00 am at Faith Chapel North-Cantonment with Dr. Jerry Passmore and Brother Nicholas Gandy officiating. Interment will follow at Bayview Memorial Park.Pallbearers will be Bryan Waters, Kyle Nelson, Russell Gandy, Terry Lambert, Olon Rivers, David McCarthy, and Bobby Davis.
Honorary pallbearers will be Billy Jim Blackman, Kenneth Nall, Joe Carley, Red Bradford, Jodie Newton, Budda Fillingim, James Statum, Johnnie Labrato, Bill Crooke, Adam Schebler, Mark Schebler, Jerry Lambert, Larry Lambert and Mike Lambert.Flowers will be accepted. However, donations may be made to Covenant Hospice at West Florida Hospital, 8383 North Davis Highway, 32514.
The family would like to express its appreciation to the doctors, nurses and staff of West Florida Hospital and Covenant Hospice. Many thanks to everyone, both family and friends, who provided love and care to our wife and mother through the past few years. A special thanks to Joann Wiggins and Brenda Dirden. Faith Chapel Funeral Home North 1000 Highway 29 South Cantonment is in charge of arrangements.

Source: Pensacola News Journal

The Cheese Stands Alone

I participated in the Edmonds Art Walk again tonight. I was in it back in November and the weather was awful. No one came out that night. So, they invited me back and I was in the same cheese shop I was in before. The weather tonight was amazing. Beautiful. Spectacular. More people showed up but not that many and those that did were there for the cheese. Once again, it was a bust.
I appreciate the opportunity but I don't think I'll be doing the Edmonds Art Walk again. I don't think my art goes over too well with the folks up there. Sure, some people dig it but most of the folks up there are into the stuff that matches your sofa.

Dimple's Passing

I found out this morning that my friend Karen's mom, Dimple, has passed away. Karen's family has always been special to me and they've always treated me like one of their own. I can't tell you how many times Dimple has fed me or at least tried to. If you went to her house you had to eat something. I will be reflecting on her passing and will possibly share more with you all later. I am so glad that I got to spend just a little bit of time with her and GC a few weeks ago. I feel, in a weird sort of way, as if I got to say goodbye.

Robert Rauschenberg Dead at 82

Rauschenberg was one of those artists that I didn't connect with until recently. I suppose I had to mature into understanding his art. I have recently looked at alot of his work and watched a documentary about him and have a greater appreciation for his talent than I did in my earlier years. You'd think he would have been one of my faves from early on since he was a contemporary and good friend of Jasper Johns, one of my favorites, but it just didn't work out that way. And now he's gone.

For more on Rauschenberg go here.

Art News

I trekked downtown today to see about a possible venue for my art. It went well. I am now booked for September at Lustre Communications as part of the First Thursday Art Walk in downtown Seattle. Their place is right across from the Seattle Art Museum so it's in a well travelled area. This means I am booked every month this year except for Oct. and Dec.
I stopped by Twilight to chat with Mary about the June show in West Seattle. I have a 14 ft. wall to fill so I'll be showing a significant amount of work. With the other shows I have coming up it looks to be a good summer for more exposure.
All that's left to do now is...make more art!

Prayer Request

One of my oldest and dearest friends let me know today that her mom is very ill. Her mom has been in declining health for a while now. The doctors have said that she may not last more than a couple of days. The family has been called in. Please keep the entire family in your thoughts and prayers. Karen's mom's name is Dimple and dad is G. C.
I'm very happy that Sarah and I spent time with Dimple and G. C. while we were home a few weeks ago.

Booklist

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

"In a dreary train station in England on their way back to boarding school, Peter, Susan,Edmund, and Lucy suddenly feel themselves being tugged into another world. They arrive on an unknown island, where they find the ancient ruins of a palace. But something feels familiar about this place. Eventually the children recognize that they are at Cair Paravel, where they themselves ruled as Queens and Kings of Narnia. They discover that they have been called back to Narnia because the forces of Old Narnia are in trouble. Just one year has passed in our world, but hundreds of years have passed in Narnia. The rightful king, Prince Caspian, is fighting a war against his uncle, King Miraz, who wants to destroy the country of Aslan—the Talking Beasts and trees, the Dwarfs and Fauns—and all memory of Old Narnia. In desperation, Caspian’s forces have blown a magical horn—the very horn Susan once received the last time they were there in Narnia—to summon the Lion and the children to help them in their struggle."*

I thought I'd read this in anticipation of the upcoming film. Having read the story, I know there will be a lot of tweaking to make it a film. I didn't enjoy this story as much as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I think they can improve on the storytelling with the film. We'll see.

The Mist by Stephen King

A mysterious mist envelops a town bringing with it a horde of strange, dangerous creatures. A small group of people trapped in a grocery store must battle the monsters and themselves to survive.

Well, I had just read this book back before the movie came out but after I finally saw the film I thought I'd read it again to compare. I really like the story. It's right up my alley. Apocalyptic survivors and weird monsters. Yes, I know I'm a bit strange. Nothing new there.

There are pros and cons to both the book and the movie. The only problem I have with the book is that David Drayton, his wife's fate unknown, has sex with a woman in the store after only having been trapped for about 24 hours. That didn't ring true to me. The movie has more problems but I liked it anyway. It's a fun ride with lots of thrills and chills. The biggest problem is the ending. Granted, it was a choice made by director Frank Darabont and approved by King himself, but I found it to be a harsh choice. The book ends with a glimmer of hope. The movie ends with none.

*Link

Speed Racer... I Told You So

Well, Speed hardly made it around the track. It debuted in 2nd (Iron Man kicked butt again) with a measly 20 mil. Now, I haven't seen it so I can't pan it. But the critics rained fire down on it and the trailers pretty much told the tale. I think Speed has crashed and burned.
Sorry Wachowskis. Try again.

Artwalk Still On

I finally found out that I am still to be a part of the artwalk in Edmonds on Thursday night. I also found out that I'm in the same business I was in back in November. I was hoping to have a different venue to try out this time around. Here's hoping the weather is better than last time. If this one doesn't yield better results, I'll be done with this particular artwalk for a long while.

The Joke's On You, Buddy!

Read this. When will people learn you just don't joke around about stuff like this anymore.

Leading Worship and Other Things

Last night I lead worship for the first time in quite a long while. I think it went fine but I was dog tired by the time it was over. Over the last couple of days I've been painting alot at work and it's made my shoulders and arms a bit sore. Add on top of that having to get ready for the 2 artwalks this week and a late night rehearsal on Thursday...well, by the time Friday arrived I was spent. Maybe it was good that I was tired because it may have served to take the edge off my nervousness. I don't know. I was a bit nervous, I guess because I hadn't done the worship thing in a while.
Like I said, I think it went fine. For some reason, my voice was super strong on Thursday night but on Friday night it was starting to give out on me. Thank goodness we had a break between the 2 sets. Today my throat is killing me. I hope it's just from the singing and not something else.
In other news, I don't know what to do about the artwalk that I was supposed to be a part of in Edmonds this Thursday night. It's been months since I heard from the lady who booked me and you would think I would hear from her this week seeing as how the event is less than a week away. No dice. I've sent 2 emails with no response. Oh well. I guess you win a few and lose a few. I guess I could still hear from her but this kind of disorganization really ticks me off.

Wandering Wallingford

Yesterday afternoon found Sarah and I running a bunch of errands...mostly for me. One stop netted me a Neti Pot, a device for rinsing your sinuses. I'm going to try it out. My sinuses have been giving me fits this year. We'll see how it works out. Another stop was to check out a venue for an art show in November. I'll be showing at Johnston Architects near the banks of Lake Union. I know that's a long time away but I like to book as far in advance as possible. It keeps me working.
Our last stop was in Wallingford for the art walk. We arrived way too early so we grabbed a bite to eat at the Rusty Pelican Cafe. The food was very good but the decor is kinda weird. Too similar to the way southern ladies decorate. After food we wandered a bit, checking out what little art we could find. We ended up at the Blue Star (where I had a show earlier in the year) to check in with the Art Parties gang. We hooked up with artist Doug Keith and his wife Beth and wandered a bit more. We ended up back at Not A Number where my stuff was. After a little bit we parted ways and headed home.
We've been wanting to wander thru Wallingford and it was great to finally have an opportunity. It's a pretty cool neighborhood. Seattle is nothing but a collection of interesting neighborhoods. We've explored quite a few of them but we haven't hit them all. I wish there was a neighborhood we could walk thru where we could say, "Gosh, there's a house we can afford." Alas, I have seen no trailer parks in Seattle. Too bad.

Seattle - Public Image Limited

I hadn't thought of this song in years when it popped into my head today. Weird. Couldn't find it on iTunes so I checked YouTube and there it was. Good song...always have liked it. Apparently the group toured here in the 80's and found it boring so it's not a pro-Seattle song. Fancy that. A negative song from Johnny Lydon. Hmmmmm.

Now that Iron Man is Out of the Way...

...I thought I'd chime in on some of the upcoming superhero type movies that are coming out in the next few months. These are my opinions and mine alone. If you don't agree...tough!

The Incredible Hulk - Well, it looks better than the first one but that's not saying too much. Actually, it looks like it might be okay. It's got a great cast with some of my all-time faves in there: Edward Norton, William Hurt, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler. My biggest concern is the CG Hulk. They are getting better at rendering CG stuff all the time but humanoid creatures still aren't there. Just look at the zombie/vampires from I Am Legend. So, I will give the movie a chance but I do not expect it to blow me away.

The Dark Knight - Call me the only skeptic on the planet if you like but I do not like what I've seen of Heath Ledger's Joker so far. I don't like the look at all. Perhaps I will like the performance. Hey, I'll give the guy props if he deserves them. Right away I must tell you that I did not like Batman Begins. I think Christian Bale is a good choice but the story just left me cold. And crap, they had a stellar cast (with Katie Holmes being one exception) but didn't give them anything to do. C'mon, you've got Gary Oldman...let the man act. I didn't like the way they portrayed Scarecrow, blah, blah, blah. Did I mention that I hated Katie Holmes? Once again, I'll give the flick a chance but I'm not beside myself to see this one.

Indy 4 - Please let this be the last one. Yeah, I'm excited and I hope it's good but don't keep going and ruin it like Lucas did with Star Wars. Let this one be great and then let it stop. Please.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army - Now we're talking. I am so ready to see this one I could wet my pants. I'm a fan of the HB comics and I really liked the first movie. I think the second is just gonna kick butt. Del Toro is the man! I am so glad he's doing the Hobbit. After seeing Pan's Labyrinth you just know it's going to be good.

Speed Racer - I watched Speed growing up. I liked it. But I'm not sure about these lights-flashing, seizure-inducing trailers I've been seeing. I think the Wachowski's are going to make it too fast to enjoy. It's kind of like in Transformers where the robots were fighting but it was just a blur. If you can't tell what you're looking at, what's the point? It all started with the pod race in Phantom Menace. I blame George Lucas.

Hancock - Leave it to Will Smith to turn the superhero genre on it's ear. I just saw a trailer for this today and it looks interesting. I love the whole whale thing.
Smith: "I don't remember that."
Bateman: "Greenpeace does."
Priceless. I hope it's good and that Mr. July does it again old school.

Also on the horizon, I'm looking forward to Prince Caspian, Wall-E and The Happening by M. Night Shyamalan (say what you want...I loved Lady in the Water). And by the way, I loved Iron Man. I thought it was great. And the thing at the end of the credits...awesome!

Busy Week

This week finds me preparing for a couple of artwalks. There's not a ton to do but it's still a matter of choosing the right art to display. Luckily, Wednesday nights gig in Wallingford is taken care of. I just have to get Friday's show in Greenwood ready. I'm also supposed to be involved in the Edmonds artwalk on the 15th but I have yet to get any follow up info. Here's hoping I hear from someone this week.
This Friday night our church is having a big party for Celebrate Recovery, a program for folks with addictions. Midlife Chrysler is playing and it will be the first time I've lead worship in many a year.
Sarah is busy getting the next show up and her tech week starts on Friday night. Like I said, a busy time for both of us.

The Fine Art of Facebook

This is stupid, I know, but it's something I struggle with partly because I am so freakin' literal (ask my wife) and partly because my definition of friendship is way different than alot of the world's. Everyday I am shown other people that I might be friends with. Now, for me, a friend is someone I am intimate with to some degree on a regular basis. It seems in the Facebook universe a friend is anyone you have been in contact with, even if remotely, so you can jack your numbers up to the Nth degree.
Okay, I already told you this was stupid. So why are you still reading? I guess I bring this up because not only is it a struggle for me in Facebook but it's also a very real struggle in real life. There are many, many people I interact with quite a bit but I do not consider them friends. Whether they consider me a friend, well, you'd have to ask them. It seems to me that there's a game that people play where friendship is a facade, a game to be played. That game is played for many reasons. Some play to get something they want. Sometimes this can also be called brown-nosing or butt-kissing. Some play so that they can say they know the person. These folks are called name-droppers. There are other reasons but I won't go into them. The point is that this whole playing at being friends is not something I want to be a part of. To me a friendship is a deep, important thing. I abhor shallow aquaintances as much as I do small talk. If I sense that someone has no desire to invest in real friendship, I usually won't have much to do with that person. I don't have time to work at relationships that aren't going anywhere. I'm also not a gameplayer. You're not likely to see me kissing ass. If I am required to smooch someone's nether regions to aquire an art show or the like, count me out. I can hang my stuff elsewhere.
So, what's the point of this rant? I think it's just an expression of my frustration with my struggle with Facebook and it's correlation with the real world of friendship. It's something I've struggled with all my life and I guess I will continue to struggle with it for the rest of my days.
Yippee.

Waverunner Pics

Here are those waverunner shots I promised last week. We had alot of fun that day. Too bad we got sunburnt and ruined our next two days in the sun. Oh well. There's always next time.